Imprint
by glamour1418
Summary: A slightly different take on the classic story. Quil and Claire's reunion. Not sure if I should keep this going, let me know!
1. Chapter 1

IMPRINT

CPOV

It was only my second week in Seattle and my third shift into my rotation that I got put on the on-call obstetric team. I had been in the US of A for exactly 11 days and 17 hours and had been in the University Hospital Seattle for about 9 of those. I was a foreign medical student on a year's exchange programme and had been placed here. I hadn't been best pleased, I'm more of a sun kind of girl and had been holding out for UCLA to accept me but Seattle was one of the most hands on courses I could find. I was in my fifth year of medical school back in London and had been chosen to take part in the exchange after being nominated by my tutor. At the time I hadn't given it much thought, thinking that I would never be picked, but as it happens it couldn't have come at a better time, what with everything going on at home. At only 22 I was young for my course and having been in constant education since the age of 5, I thought this would be an opportunity to travel and get some sun for a year. I was wrong. Seattle hasn't heard of sun. And the University Hospital had cottoned on to the fact that I had two hands, a 'traditional English accent that everyone loves' and that they didn't have to pay me. So after my first shift on the maternity ward I had been volunteered to help out with the on-call obstetric team and had successfully assisted in delivering my first two American babies.

Coming onto the ward to start my night shift at 8 in the evening I was met by Cara and Dr Wilcox. Cara was a newly qualified obstetric nurse and my actual angel in disguise, helping me out with everything. Dr Wilcox was a firm but fair matron-like woman who I feared at all times. She was also my mentor for the next three months.

'You're in luck, we have our first out of area call' Cara informed me as I changed into my scrubs that evening. 'It's a woman from a reservation just east of here, in La Push. 'I stared at her blankly. 'They're from the Quileute Tribe', she went on, and 'I have several cousins living there now.' I nodded and grabbed my bag, following her down the stairs and into the waiting ambulance with Dr Wilcox on my heels. 'So,' she began, 'Many of the Quileute women have natural homebirths, which is a perfect birth for any student. I'll try and leave this one in your hands as much as possible, ok Claire?' I swallowed. No! Not ok! Poor woman is probably expecting a calm and collected doctor to appear, not some English schoolgirl who can barely convince a fish to swim, let alone a woman to push out her first child. 'Great. Sounds great,' I managed. She looked at me, 'This baby will probably be big. And strong. But don't be scared, we will manage to deliver safely.' I looked at her puzzled, 'Some of the guys down there...are big.' I looked at Cara who just shrugged at me.

Soon enough we'd screeched down a worn out road and into the front yard of a small house nestled into the woods. The first thing that struck me was the amount of people surrounding the house. Boys. Lots of boys. Or men. Dr Wilcox was right; they were huge yet had young and youthful faces. I grabbed the Delivery bag, scales, towels and anything else I could from the back of the ambulance and quickly hurried after Cara. The guys parted and let us through, I avoided eye contact with this silent bunch of half naked men and followed the sounds of some low, deep cries coming from down the corridor. Entering the room I saw a young woman leaning on a couch, groaning through her contraction. She was beautiful; despite the fact she had three angry looking scars running down the side of her face. They almost suited her. Just behind her, looking almost as pained as she was, was a huge man. He was at least 6'5, tanned and muscled like nothing i'd ever seen before. 'Steroids' said my overly medical mind, but that wasn't it. It was natural; it suited him just as the scars suited his wife. 'Hello Emily.' Cara said warmly, resting a comforting hand on the woman's lower back, rubbing circles slowly. 'Hi' Emily choked out, throwing Cara a grateful glance. 'Emily, I'm Doctor Wilcox and this is my student Claire Addlington.'

Both Emily and her husband smiled at us and I smiled back. 'Sam' Emily stuttered out 'Get them some chairs.' Her husband ran out of the room and appeared a minute later. He put one in front of me and stared at me, directly in the eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him 'are you alright?' I asked. 'Do you mind me being here?' I looked at both of them. 'Such a strange coincidence' he muttered.

'I'm sorry?' I questioned.

'Nothing,' he replied 'you just remind me of someone we used to know.' I smiled at him and then looked to Dr Wilcox for instruction. She turned to Sam. 'Ok Sam, why don't you go make us a cup of coffee and we'll examine your wife. I have a feeling that there isn't long to go.' He nodded and gave Emily a kiss on the cheek, wiping her hair out of her face. 'I love you,' he murmured, 'I'm sorry.' She smiled at him; 'Good!' she replied 'this is all your fault.' He braved a small smile and then turned and looked straight at me once again. 'I know you'll look after her.' He said and walked out the room. I looked around at the other women in the room. Well that was strange.

I walked over to Emily and said, 'I'm Claire. Would you be able to lie down on the sofa so we can examine you?' I queried. She gave me that same searching look Sam had done and then grabbed my hand. 'Only if you do it,' she replied. 'I want you to do it.' I looked at Dr Wilcox who nodded at me, looking slowly between my apprehensive face and Emily's twisted one.

87 minutes later and it was all over. Emily had successfully birthed a beautiful baby boy. Dr Wilcox was right. It was enormous, weighing well over 5kg. I cried when he was born, which was something new for me. It was something about all the raw emotion that hung in the air as I watched this perfect little family develop. Sam had been in tears himself in the final stages as the unbearable pain had gripped Emily, rendering her unable to move. Suddenly her head had snapped up and her eyes cleared and she pushed. And pushed. And pushed. When it was over and we had cleaned her and the room up, she held out her arms to me, handing me the baby. I smiled and took him from her as she eased herself into a more comfortable position. 'Where are you from Claire?' she asked me.

'The South East coast of England.' I replied. 'A tiny town called Southwold.'

She smiled, 'By a beach?'

I nodded, 'you can't have heard of it,' I laughed, 'no one's heard of it.' She smiled at me wistfully and looked as if she was about to say something but then the door opened and the room filled with people. I stood up and made room to let them crowd around the newborn and began to help Cara document the evenings events in the labour notes. I took them to the kitchen to finish, which is where I found him. His eyes snapped up onto mine as I entered the room and he stuttered out a quiet 'Claire?'

'Yes?' I replied, confused. He backed away from me and all but ran out of the back door and disappeared into the dark woods. What is it with the people around here? I finished up my work and waited with Cara outside the front door and before long a transport car arrived to take us back to the hospital. Being well past one in the morning by the time we returned I headed straight to the on call room to catch up on some well needed sleep

QPOV

I was running idly in a 15 mile radius of Sam's place, assuming that someone would let me know when the baby arrived. I was happy for him. His dream had come true. It wasn't that I was bitter, it was just that I had grown accustomed to this numb, half alive feeling that I hadn't been able to shake for the last 18 years. I traced back in a lazy figure of eight, half considering chasing a scent i'd picked up a couple miles north but deciding against it when I felt the strange hum that signalled one of the guys had phased. Embry I realised. And he was anxious.

'_Embry?' I called, 'You alright man? Has it happened? Are they both ok?'_

'_She's here.' Was the reply._

_My heart stopped for a second and I called out again. 'What do you mean she? I thought they were expecting a boy?'_

'_Not the baby Quil.' He replied, 'Claire.'_

_I skidded to a halt. Claire. No, there must be a mistake. Claire had left eighteen years ago and I hadn't heard a word about her since. The only thing I knew about her was that she was alive. She had to be alive because I was alive. And I knew that if she wasn't then I would have no reason to exist. She was my imprint. My whole world revolved around her and my whole body had been in autopilot since the day she left, not daring to hope that I might ever see her again. My heart was pounding in my ears and I felt my whole body shake. _

I was sat under the tree when Embry skidded to a halt and phased right in front of me. Stopping quickly to pull on his shorts he crouched in front of me and placed a hand on my arm. 'Dude, i'm not kidding.' He began. 'I know it's her. She's got a different surname and a British accent but i'd recognise her anywhere. Sam and Emily knew as well. They weren't sure at first but they knew.'

'What about the others?' I croaked out.

'Jared and Paul recognised her the second she stepped out of the ambulance. And ...'

'Wait, ambulance?' I sat up straighter that tug and need to protect returning from within me at 100mph 'why was she in an ambulance?'

Embry let out a low chuckle, 'So it's still there,' he said softly, 'she's a doctor, or a nurse, or something' he said, 'i'm not sure, but she was helping with the birth and arrived with Cara and the doctor.'

I blinked. Of course, that made perfect sense. Even as a young child Claire was the most caring person I knew, and the hours of her admitting the whole pack into her 'hospital' had obviously paid off.

'I think she's gone Quil.' Embry began, 'But she must be working at the Hospital up in Seattle where Emily's been going.'

I nodded numbly. 'She's really back' I whispered softly, unaware of the hot tears that spilled over my eyes and down my face. Embry pulled me into a swift hug and murmured 'you're going to be ok now man, you're back too.'

CPOV

I was sitting at the main reception of the Maternity ward trying to get the printer to work when I heard a familiar voice.

'Amazing. I was hoping i'd run into you and here you are. It must be fate.'

I turned quickly. 'Hi Emily,' I smiled warmly at her, 'how are you doing?'

'Great,' she replied, 'Elijah is at home with the family, i'm just here for a check-up. I wanted to see you though and thank you for all your help at the birth. You really are a natural at this.'

I blushed right on cue. 'Not at all. You're the one that did all the hard work.'

She laughed her delicate laugh and then looked at me closely again. 'How come you're here?' she asked, 'I mean not to be rude, but since you're not from here and I haven't seen you on this ward before?'

I smiled at her. 'I'm at medical school back home in London.' I explained. 'I'm on a year abroad exchange programme here at Seattle University. I've been here just over a month now, but i'm not getting any more used to it' I laughed.

She smiled and said 'because you miss home?'

'Yes and no.' I replied. 'I wanted to try something different but between getting over the jetlag, joining in with classes back at campus and doing shifts on here, I've not really had a chance to meet anyone yet!'

She laughed and replied 'i'm sure you will soon enough. In fact, I was wondering if you would like to come to visit this weekend? I'd love for you to see Elijah and I really want to thank you for all your help.'

I smiled at her, 'i'd love to Emily, really I would, but i'm not sure i'm allowed to, seeing as you were a patient and everything.'

'well how about not as my doctor, but as my new friend I've made who i'd like to invite to dinner to say thank you because she also happened to single handily deliver my 5.7kg baby without a single stitch?'

I laughed and said, 'well that does sound acceptable I guess. Thank you.'

'No problem,' she replied, 'i'm having a gathering of family and friends anyway, so you won't feel uncomfortable at all. Besides, there's lots of people your age, a couple even go to Seattle Uni too, so it might be nice for you to meet them.'

And that was, without really knowing how, i'd agreed to go back to Emily's this Friday evening and not only have dinner, meet her entire family and extended friendship group, but also stay the night and join them in a hike to the beach.

QPOV

I still wasn't over the shock of Claire being back in America, let alone Seattle and even though I hadn't actually seen her, the knowledge that she was here and close by, gave me some of my strength back and seem to lift just some of the weight that i'd been carrying for the last 18 years off my shoulders. I knew it was her the second I got within half a mile of the house. Her scent, although somewhat different to that of the four year old who left me behind, was still mostly the same. And I would recognise it for eternity.

I was sprawled on one of the armchairs in Emily's kitchen when she walked in carrying two shopping bags. I hopped up to help her.

'Emily,' I scolded, 'you had a baby two weeks ago, you're killing Sam with all this running around.' Although she wasn't my imprint, I still worried about her deeply. We all looked out for each other's imprints, knowing the pain it would cause our brothers if something happened to them.

She just laughed and handed me the bags, 'great! You can unpack then Quil.'

I grumbled and began to randomly throw the items in cupboards and the fridge as she studied me.

'She's coming here this Friday.'

I froze and turned to face her. 'Why? How?'

'I asked her to Quil.' She replied, 'and not just for you, she's my niece and I've missed her too you know.'

I flopped onto the nearest chair and put my head in my hands. 'This is going to be a disaster,' I groaned. 'How am I supposed to act? She obviously doesn't remember anything about this place or us or me and yet she is my whole reason for living. The last time I saw her she was four years old. Help me!' I whined.

Emily laughed and ruffled my hair. 'Quil you're made for each other, it's going to be great.'

Friday night came around both slower and quicker than I would have liked. On the one hand I needed more time to get my head around the fact that very soon I would be face to face with my imprint for the first time in 18 years, and on the other hand, I would soon be face to face with my imprint, and my world would once again make sense.

I knew she was near when my heart began to beat faster than it already was and the tugging in my chest got worse. Emily had banished me and the boys out in the backyard so that we wouldn't overwhelm her. Most of the pack had known her, and really in wolf terms 18 years was nothing, but there were 3 new members who had joined who had only seen her in my thoughts.

I felt Embry put a calming hand on my shoulder and Jared stood slightly in front of me. I knew they were worried about the emotions getting too much and me phasing right in front of her, but I knew that wouldn't happen. I could never do anything to put her in harm's way even if I tried.

'Claire!' I heard Emily say with delight, 'you found us again!'

'Hi Emily,' Claire replied laughing, 'the care hire place gave me detailed directions; I only got lost a couple of times!'

Her voice. I could listen to it all day. It was soft and soothing...and English. Which was strange. I've been hearing her girly west coast twang in my ears and this was nothing like that. Mature and elegant.

'Come on through and meet everyone.' I heard Emily lead her through the house, my heart quickening with every step they took, and out onto the lawn.

She was breathtaking. Stunning, beautiful, amazing and any other word I could think of. She was petite, around 5'5, a good foot shorter than me yet curvy too. She had long dark hair which waved and curled and teased it's way around her face. Her tanned skin glowed against the white of her dress and the white of her teeth. Embry's hand squeezed my shoulder as I took her in, my mouth hanging open in wonder.

'so you know Sam,' Emily began, 'this here is Paul and his wife Rachel, Jared and Kim, Seth and his girlfriend Amber, Brady, Collin, Rafe, Mikah and Leah, Oscar, Embry and Quil.' She pointed to each of us in turn and Claire smiled dutifully at every one of us. When Emily got to me I finally managed to look into her eyes.

When I first ever looked into her eyes and imprinted on her, my world shifted. Gravity rearranged itself around her, her happiness and her protection. Nothing mattered; everything i'd thought mattered didn't anymore. This time, that all happened again and more. Every bone in my body screamed at me to run and pick her up in my arms and never let her go again. My legs twitched with the effort of staying still. My jaw was clenched shut to stop me from blurting out to her how much I loved and missed her. All this happened in the split second her eyes met mine and then she had moved on, towed by Emily over to the older pack members.

'Are you ok man?' Embry asked, concerned by my shaking.

'She's amazing,' I breathed. He laughed as Collin looked at me and mouthed 'She's HOT!' A low growl broke from my chest before I even realised as my brothers laughed, 'Chill dude,' Brady said, low enough that only wolf ears could hear, 'you need to go and talk to her.'

CPOV

I had imagined that meeting this many people at once would be scary, however I hadn't factored in the fact that every single person in the backyard of Emily's house was either completely gorgeous, over 6'3 or both. I started comparing myself to them immediately. I was tanned but the people here glowed. My hair was long and shiny but the girls hair glistened and shone in the sun, I had an alright figure but here it was like some body contest. The girls were petite and one in particular was lean and muscled like a coiled spring. And every single guy was enormous. Tall yes, but muscled too, they all looked half wild as they stood around awkwardly pulling at their clothes and talking in low voices. Two that had been introduced as Oscar and Rafe were topless as well, with abs like a god.

Emily took my hand and led me over to where Sam was standing with another couple.

'Hi Claire,' the guy said 'I'm Paul, and this is my wife Rachel.'

I smiled and stuck out my hand for them to shake but he just laughed and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I yelped as my air supply was cut off and Rachel laughed. 'Careful Paul, she's tiny.' Paul chuckled then jumped back quickly as if someone had surprised him. 'Ah,' said Sam slowly, 'this is Quil.'

I turned round and looked up at the boy in front of me. He stood staring straight over my head at Paul, who was just smiling back at him. I stuck my hand out for him to shake, suddenly feeling shy at the way he looked at me. His eyes were searching my face as if looking for something and I wasn't sure if he found what he was looking for. There was something vaguely familiar about this whole situation but I couldn't put my finger on it. 'Hello Quil.' I managed.

'Hi Claire,' he said softly, shaking my small hand in his mammoth one. 'Welcome to La Push.'

I laughed, 'thanks,' I replied, 'It's lovely.'

It's lovely? I kicked myself mentally. Why was I feeling so nervous all of a sudden? I blushed and took my hand away from his as he was still gripping it tightly. Two other boys bounded up to me and pulled me into the same exhausting hug as Paul had done. I choked out a meek 'hello' as they both introduced themselves as Collin and Brady.

'My, my,' said one, raising his eyebrow, 'they certainly turn them out well in England. Perhaps we should go visit?' he turned to the other one as they laughed. I looked at them as they looked at Quil who was stood with his jaw clenched as he suddenly turned away and walked over to the edge of the forest where another man stood. I shook my head, confused with all the silent emotions that were flying around.

Emily had put on a feast for everyone. I was shocked when she started bringing out all the food and laying it down on the long row of tables that had been set up. The girls all helped her as more and more plates came out and Sam had the guys carrying several chairs each out and making room for everyone. As soon as the boys started eating, I realised why she had made so much. They all ate like it was their last ever meal, piling their plates high over and over again. I had been sat between Emily and Kim who had both kept laughing at the incredulous look on my face. After dinner as the sun was beginning to set some of the boys wandered off into the forest after kissing Emily on the cheek and thanking her for feeding them. She laughed and waved them off as everyone else began to clear up. After sitting around and talking for a while, she noticed that I was beginning to doze off. It was so warm and snug in her living room with all the bodies in there that I couldn't help myself.

'Nathalie, let me show you to the guest room, you must be tired!'

I smiled at her and picked myself up off the chair, following her out of the room. The guest room was gorgeous. Small and welcoming. There was an oak double bed with several pillows and comforters draped across it. On one wall directly opposite the bed was a painting. Set against a beach were 13 wolves in different colours and sizes. On the wall opposite the window was one solitary russet coloured wolf, standing on the edge of a cliff. He looked right at you out of the painting it was uncanny.

'Who's that?' I asked, pointing at the wolf.

'What do you mean who?' Emily asked, staring straight at me.

'No, I mean is he part of the legends round here?' I began, feeling stupid. 'I mean that Cara mentioned some tribe legends about wolves and nature and stuff.'

'Oh,' said Emily, looking almost disappointed. 'Yes, there's lots of old stories about wolves here. We like to stick to our heritage.'

I smiled at her, 'I like it, thank you so much for letting me stay this evening.'

She leant over and hugged me tightly. 'It's an absolute pleasure. I can't wait for you to see the beach tomorrow.'

As I snuggled into the duvets I thought about how comfortable I felt here and I very quickly fell into a deep sleep.

QPOV

Embry, Rafe and I had about an hour left of our patrol and we were getting bored, nothing had been going on in months and we were trying to persuade Jacob to let us cut down our patrolling times, especially since he wasn't even here at the moment. All I wanted was to get straight back to where Claire was. Just being able to hear her breathing would calm me down

'_Embry, I think i'm going to stay at Sam's tonight, I just can't be away from her anymore'_

'_Sure dude, don't worry about it. You go ahead now; me and Rafe will finish up here. There's nothing going on tonight anyway.'_

'_Rafe?' I called, 'Do you mind?'_

'_Nah go for it Quil,' came the young wolf's reply, 'when I find mine, you can pay me back.'_

_I laughed and turned back towards the rez, my heart beating faster the closer I got. Once I was by the edge of the woods I phased quickly and headed indoors._

I wasn't surprised that she'd gone to bed, it was after midnight and she must have been tired after seeing everyone tonight. As I headed into the living room I saw Emily and Sam sat together on the sofa talking intently. A pang of jealousy shot through me. How come I couldn't hold my imprint in my arms like Sam was holding Emily. I wanted to go to sleep with her and wake up with her and spend every minute in between with her.

As I entered the room Sam looked up. 'Everything quiet tonight?' he asked me. Sam had handed over his duties as alpha to Jake years ago when he and Emily wanted to start trying for children. He didn't want her to age too much without him but I knew he missed it every day.

'Yeah,' I replied, 'Although I can't say I was paying much attention to anything.'

Emily smiled sympathetically at me. 'You'll be able to tell her when the time is right Quil,' she began, 'Just give her some time to settle in and get to know you again. You're made for her remember, she can't not want you around.'

I sighed, 'I know that, I guess I just thought there would be some kind of recognition, that she might remember something. I know she was young but I thought something would be there. She just looked at me like she might look at any other guy she meets. She had no idea.'

'She liked the wolves.' Emily stated simply. 'In her room. I put the one of the whole pack up and the one of Jake. She asked me who he was. She didn't mean exactly who he was but she had heard some of the legends about you guys. Maybe she does remember she just has to realise what it is that she's feeling.'

I nodded and let them finish their conversation. I headed upstairs and first checked on Elijah, fast asleep in his parents room then made my way down the hall and paused outside the spare bedroom. The door was open a crack and I looked through. She was fast asleep, curled up on her side with her back to me. She had several blankets pulled up to her chin. She was cold. I turned behind me and grabbed another blanket out of the cupboard to my right. I tiptoed in and placed it over her quickly, fighting against my body telling me that I was made to keep her warm, and with my arms around her she wouldn't need anything else.

I breathed in her scent and made my way back downstairs. Sam and Emily said goodnight and I crashed out on the sofa. My dreams consisted of nothing but Claire and I woke up the next morning feeling more tired than when I fell asleep.

CPOV

I woke up quite early the next morning with the smell of bagels and coffee wafting up the stairs. The weather was sunny again but I could see clouds milling about the sky, threatening to spill over. I dressed quickly in jeans and a cream blouse and pulled my hair up out of my face. Wandering down the stairs I saw over half the boys from last night were back in the kitchen again. As I walked in the tall one, Quil, stood up and offered me his chair. I smiled up at him, 'Thanks Quil.'

He just nodded back at me and quickly sat down in the chair next to mine. The boy on the other side of me offered me a bagel and said 'Hi, I'm Rafe. We didn't get to meet properly yesterday. I go to Seattle University too, but i'm studying pre-law, i'm one of the only one of the p...us to go to university,' he finished grinning at me. It was infectious and I couldn't help but laugh with him.

'Nice to meet you,' I smiled back at him, 'hopefully I'll see you around sometime then.'

Rafe threw me a grin and glanced sideways at the others, 'Oh I think we'll be seeing you a lot more than that don't you worry.' I laughed confused about what he meant.

Later on in the morning when everyone was ready to go we met up with the others from last night plus children armed with food and rugs and music and cushions and anything else the guys could carry. This incidentally was a strange amount. We walked for about half an hour through the forest before we emerged onto the most beautiful beach i'd ever seen. The sand was warm and yellow stretching down into the sea. The sea itself was calm and crazy all at the same time, with sudden huge waves appearing out of nowhere. I sucked a breath in, 'Wow' I breathed.

'Pretty breathtaking isn't it?' I turned round to find Quil standing behind me looking directly at it.

'It's amazing,' I agreed, 'I feel like I've seen it before,' I muttered, more to myself than to him.

He suddenly grabbed my hand and spun me round to face him, 'What do you mean Claire? Concentrate.' He said urging me with his eyes.

I backed off and looked around startled. 'I don't know,' I replied, 'maybe in a painting, or a film or something? Isn't it the same beach from the painting in the guest room?'

'Oh.' He replied, stepping away from me and looking over my shoulder, 'yeah it is, well done.' He quickly walked away towards Embry and Rafe and I shook my head bewildered.

QPOV

Shit, shit and shit. Way to go Quil. She probably thinks i'm some kind of mad man now. I'm just so desperate for her to remember something herself, I can't stand the thought of weeks and months without being able to touch her and be with her but she needs to do this herself.

'Quil, you need to calm down.' Embry laid a large hand on my shoulder, 'just be yourself. She needs friends around her, she's new here. Just act normal and you'll see her start to remember, i'm sure of it.'

I nodded, 'I know you're right. It's just so hard. I don't care what she wants me as, I just need to look after her.'

I decided to go and try again, so took deep breath in and walked over to where i'd left her a minute ago.

'Hi again,' I grinned sheepishly at her, 'do you want to go for a walk? I can show you around the beach. Otherwise we'll just get roped into helping start a fire or something equally boring.'

She laughed her beautiful, tinkling laugh and nodded a yes.

As we walked down the beach I asked her questions and she answered. She'd seemed quiet and shy at first, nothing like the loud giggling little girl i'd helped raise. She was polite. Too polite. Maybe this is what people mean when they talk about British politeness. She would answer my questions and sometimes ask her own, but we weren't _talking. _I knew that she didn't have a favourite colour because she couldn't choose just one, I knew that she had one younger sister called Rebecca, I knew that she wanted to end up in obstetrics or paediatrics, I knew that she missed her friends. But I really didn't know her. I used to know her like the back of my hand, better than I knew myself, but now I felt like a stranger and I hated it. I wasn't just any other guy, I was her soul mate. I wanted to know what made her mad, what she thought of her parents, if she'd ever been in love (though dreaded the answer) I wanted to know what she did with her friends, if she was a funny drunk, if she liked dancing. Most of all I really wanted to see her laugh, and I mean properly laugh.

'Aren't you cold?' She jolted me out of my little reverie. I looked at her. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she braced herself against the classic Olympic peninsula winds which were picking up. I threw her a grin and said 'I don't know the meaning of the word cold.' Without even thinking I wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled her snug into my side. And it felt so _right._ She moulded into me like she was made for me. A perfect fit. Until,

'Woah Quil, are you ok? You must be running a temperature or something, you should get inside!'

Great. Doctor Claire at your service. I reluctantly withdrew my arm and mumbled, 'Maybe, I guess you get quite used to the temperature when you're out here all the time.' She cast me a concerned glance and led me over to sit by the fire to 'warm up.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to those who reviewed, I've decided to keep writing it but I don't have a lot of time at the moment so bear with me!**

CPOV

The rest of the afternoon was spent sat around on the beach, eating and drinking more than I've ever seen normal people go through. The boys were in their element, racing around with various children, girlfriends, each other. It didn't matter, as soon as someone got tired they found a new plaything, their energy was astounding. I was sat on a log by the fire when one of the taller ones, Oscar came over to me.

'Are you going to eat that?' he asked, pointing at my plate which still held half its contents. I smiled and passed it over to him, 'help yourself,' I replied.

'You like it here don't you?' he asked me.

'Well yeah, it's amazing. You guys are all so welcoming as well.' I paused. 'Are some of you related?' I asked tentatively as he looked at me cautiously, 'I mean, you all look so similar. Not just physically but you have the same mannerisms and you seem more like a band of brothers than friends,' I finished lamely, cursing myself at the choice of words. _Band of brothers._ Where did that cheesy metaphor come from?

He laughed at the face I was making and swallowed half my hamburger whole, 'yeah I guess you could say that. We're very close. We all are around here. We look after our own.'

I nodded. I should feel more of an outsider than I really do. I don't know any of these people and yet they act as if i'm a lifelong friend, welcoming me into their tight knit community without a single hesitation.

I heard Oscar chuckle and say 'I'll leave you two to it.'

I glanced up; unaware that Quil was now looming over the two of us. He was shooting Oscar several glares, but the latter merely laughed harder and sauntered off throwing me a wink as he left.

Quil sat down next to me and said softly 'Sorry if they're pestering you. There's rarely anyone new around here and throw in your new British accent, some of them can't help themselves.'

I laughed and looked at him, 'new British accent?' I asked.

He glanced at me quickly, 'Yeah I mean new here. We never really get any tourists out in this part you see.'

I did see. This was one the most beautiful parts of the world i'd been to and yet there was something so remote and closed off about it that it seemed strange to think of other people here. Once again I found myself shocked at how easily I fitted in.

'What are you thinking about?' he asked me, almost sounding pained.

'How welcoming you all are,' I began, 'I've felt somewhat displaced since I arrived here but I feel very settled now. You must all have been raised excellently.' I smirked him, teasing slightly.

He laughed and wrapped his arm round me once more saying, 'sweetheart we're feral.'

QPOV

FINALLY. Some glimmer of the old Claire. She used to tease us mercilessly about anything and everything. Even at such a young age she had picked up her mother's rapier wit and I had hoped it was still there.

As the evening drew on, the temperature dropped and I started worrying about Claire. The others could hold their imprints as tightly as they liked, knowing that the cold wind wouldn't affect them, but I couldn't.

'Claire, you should put something else on, it's only going to get colder.'

She let out and almost inaudible sigh and said, 'Actually I should get going. I've got a shift tomorrow anyway so need to head back.'

My heart literally dropped. I couldn't let her leave again. I was never going to let her leave again. Even the 45 minutes to Seattle was too far and it wasn't as if we were all actually friends. She'd accepted Emily's invite half out of politeness i'd suspected and I wasn't sure how many more excuses we could come up with to get her back to the reservation. She stood up and brushed some of the crumbs off her lap. She wandered over to where Emily and Kim were standing and gave them both a hug.

'Thank you so much for inviting me Emily, I've had such a great time. I'll hopefully see you around soon!'

I saw Kim shoot me a glance over Emily's shoulder and I shook my head at her. I slumped down and stared at my hands, a lump forming at the back of my throat. Seriously Quil? Crying? That's definitely going to make her think you're a normal, average guy. I felt a hot hand of one of the pack on my shoulder and then Rafe's voice muttered quietly, 'Don't worry Bro, I've got this.'

He wandered over to where the girl's were standing and gave Claire one of his infamous bear hugs. She laughed and looked up at him questioningly.

'So seeing as you're still officially a newbie,' he began, 'I've taken it upon myself to be your new tour guide backup at campus.' Genius Rafe! I mumbled a 'thank you, thank you, thank you,' that I knew he would pick up.

She smiled at him, 'Thanks Rafe, i'd really appreciate that. Will I see you on Monday?'

'I'll be there.' He replied.

Then suddenly I felt queasy again. This wasn't right; I wasn't supposed to rely on someone else to take care of my imprint, even if it was one of the pack. I was supposed to show her around; I was supposed to help her settle in. I can't stand the thought of him being able to see her in less than 48 hours when I had no idea when the next time for me would be. Suddenly all the gratefulness i'd felt towards him vanished and I saw red. How dare he think that he could look after her better than I could? His words _'I've got this.' _Suddenly sounded cocky and smarmy. I growled and threw myself off the log stalking towards him. I didn't get far before I was face to face with Paul and Embry.

'Get it together,' Paul hissed, 'I know what you're thinking but you need to calm down.'

I snapped back at him, 'You have no idea what i'm thinking. None of you do. It's easy for you, yours just helplessly fell into your arms and gave you whatever you wanted..' I stopped as Paul grabbed the collar of my polo shirt and roughly shoved me backwards.

'Don't talk about Rachel like that,' He growled menacingly, 'She's not helpless and she has a choice. They all do.'

'They don't.' I spat back. 'None of us fucking do, we're just pulled and pushed by this...this _thing_ that takes away our freewill and theirs. None of us had or ever will have a choice again.' I roughly shouldered past him and sprinted into the forest, shredding my clothes as I exploded into my wolf form. I howled and howled at the unfairness and the anger I felt coursing through me. I _needed _her and I needed her to need me. If she didn't need me then what the hell was the use of me even imprinting?

Hours later I had calmed down enough to phase back into my human form. I slunk into the house I shared with Embry and Jake and collapsed face down on my bed. I knew I would have to go and apologise to Paul at some point and I didn't even want to start to think what Claire had thought about it all.

CPOV

A couple of weeks had passed since that weekend at Emily's. It had come to a somewhat awkward end after Paul and Quil had some kind of argument and the latter disappeared into the forest. I had seen Rafe around but he hadn't really stuck to his promise of tour guide. I guess I didn't expect him too really, we weren't friends or anything. For some reason I couldn't put my finger on I kind of missed La Push and its residents. I had felt welcomed and more at home than I had in a long time and I guess that's the feeling I was missing.

As I turned the corner of the street I thought I felt someone watching me. I glanced over my shoulder but just saw the usual hustle and bustle of the busy road I lived off. Again I felt the feeling that I was being followed and so turned into a nearby cafe to shake it off. I queued for my muffin and tea (I missed the good old stuff back home) and as I turned round I smacked straight into someone's chest, narrowly avoiding throwing the entire cup over them.

I heard a deep chuckle and 'clumsy as ever then,'

I looked up. Quil. 'Hi' I breathed. I was a bit wary of him since the barbeque at the beach, he seemed volatile and out of control and I didn't really know how to handle his strange and explosive mood swings. However still feeling funny from my walk home I was happy to see his 6'6 frame standing in front of me.

He smiled and said 'Mind if I join you?'

I shook my head and headed over to a corner table, away from the main queue. He flung himself down onto the chair opposite me and looked me straight in the eye. I felt a weird tug in my tummy, his eyes entranced me, they were dark, dark brown, almost black, and I could feel myself starting to blush. He was so _intense_. I'd never met anybody like him.

He suddenly broke his gaze and looked at his hands and said, 'Do you want to come to Kim's birthday dinner? It's an impromptu and informal thing at Brady's dad's restaurant. I want to apologise for how I acted the other week, you must think I'm slightly crazy.'

I smiled at him, 'tonight?' He nodded.

'Yeah ok, that'd be nice actually. I was feeling weird walking home, almost like someone was watching me?'

His head snapped up, 'How do you mean watching you?'

I laughed it off, not wanting to seem equally weird, 'Just that funny feeling you get, you know?'

He nodded and looked hard at me again before grabbing my muffin and tea and saying, 'you can have this on the way, although if you can't manage it I'd be happy to help out.'

QPOV

She felt like she was being followed. So she _is_ aware of me in some way. Even if it is in the creepy/stalker kind of way, not exactly what I was going for. The need to protect her has come back tenfold. It seems that the long period apart has only increased my imprint abilities. I can smell her from miles away, hear her heart beating through several buildings and can feel her long before I see her. At least she'd agreed to coming to Kim's. I'd wanted so badly to see her since Emily's but they all told me to play it cool. If I want Claire to stick around for good I have to play it safe and not scare her or alarm her in anyway.

We walked in amicable silence through the streets of Seattle before we reached Brady's dad's place. Everyone was already there, milling around the cosy main dining area. He had closed it for the evening and families, friends, wolves and imprints filled the room. Claire and I slipped in almost unnoticed and then Emily caught sight of her. She gave me a penetrative look and then swept Claire up into one of her motherly hugs. Claire smiled and hugged her back and I could hear her inhale deeply. My heart flipped at this. She felt comfortable here. I could feel that. She felt calm and relaxed too. She turned to look at me and I threw her the most heart-warming grin I could and she blinked a couple of times before smiling shyly back.

An hour later and the food had pretty much been demolished. I'd left Claire's side only to refill my plate a few times but each time someone new had joined her, and so I barely got any time with her just to myself. From somewhere in the back, Colin's brother produced a guitar and handed it to Brady, the only musical wolf in the pack and the dancing started. Jared whisked a protesting Kim straight into the middle of the floor as everyone laughed. They were so different. Jared was loud, arrogant and often downright irritating whereas Kim was kind, softly-spoken and the most humble woman i'd ever met. They balanced each other out though, of course. Jared worshipped the ground she walked on and she was the only person he'd ever apologised to in his entire life. Something we liked to bring up on numerous occasions.

Rafe appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Claire's hand, pulling her away from me and into the mix of dancing couples. I growled deeply, I thought i'd warned that boy to stay away from her. He clearly needed some reminding. Before I could move Embry had tapped him on the shoulder and mock bowed in front of Claire. She giggled and turned to face him. I let out a sigh of relief; Embry knew what I was feeling before I often did. Rafe grinned and sauntered towards me.

'What do you think you're playing at?' I asked him, not taking my eyes of Claire.

'I have no idea how you're planning on getting her back if all you do is mope around in corners staring at her.' He replied following my line of vision. 'I'm trying to elicit some sort of reaction in you,' he went on. 'You need to do something, make her see that you're the one that's different to the rest of us.' With that he patted me on the back and wandered off to irritate the next person he saw no doubt.

I watched Embry whirl Claire around the dance floor. Her hair was falling out of her bun and her cheeks were flushed with wine and heat and laughter as her feet barely touched the ground. I hated to admit it but he was right. Everyone was trying so hard and was making such an impression on her, I could tell she was having a great time and once again it wasn't down to me. I needed to get close to her, I needed to let the old me back out.

**Hope you liked this chapter. I am getting closer to Claire and Quil spending more time together don't worry! Please keep reviewing – it keeps me writing!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks as usual to those who reviewed, please keep them coming!**

CPOV

As the night drew on I could see the couples start to make their way home and I realised I would soon have to leave too. I again felt indescribably sad at the thought that everyone here would pile and bundle into trucks and cars and make their way back to La Push and I would be left in the city. I knew I had work again the tomorrow but all I wanted was to follow them back and curl back up in Emily's cosy room. Quil approached me after i'd received several hugs and squeezes and thrust his hands awkwardly into his pockets. I smiled up at him.

'Thanks so much for inviting me to this Quil, I had a great time. It was just what I needed.'

His face split into a huge smile that stretched right into his eyes. It was contagious. 'Do you really mean that?' He asked happily.

I laughed with him, 'Of course I do silly! You guys all make me feel so welcome, it feels as if I've known you for years not months.'

His smile stretched even wider if possible and he answered so softly I had to wonder if I imagined it, 'Longer than you'll ever know.'

QPOV

I had decided right then that I was going to _make _Claire notice me. And I mean really notice me. I knew that the ultimate decision of what I was going to be was her choice but I needed her in my life and Rafe was right. She's meant for me and I most certainly am meant for her. I had just had to make her realise that.

As the week drew on I got more and more impatient. Fed up with just following Claire around Seattle in my human form and sleeping as close to her apartment as I could in my wolf form, I wanted something more. That and the pack were getting more and antsier with me creeping around Seattle at night as a giant wolf. Sam said I was playing with time I didn't have before someone saw me.

Somehow I knew that I had to get Claire back to La Push as much as possible and that then her memory would start to return. I knew that she loved it there and I knew that she felt comfortable there. I could hear the small sighs as she said goodbye to us all and I could see some of the shine in her eyes dissipate when we left.

As luck would have it Emily once again came to my rescue. She wanted Claire to remember almost as much as I did and I could tell she loved having her niece around her again.

It was a few days after Kim's birthday and I was busy stuffing my face with whatever I could find in Emily's fridge when I felt her. I spun round and sure enough I could hear the rumble of Claire's car come down the drive. I swallowed loudly and closed the fridge door, making my way out onto the porch to greet her. Suddenly on impulse I whipped my shirt off, then instantly regretted it. It was too late, i'd committed to being topless it seemed. It wasn't that I was arrogant, but I knew I was in good shape. We all were, we couldn't _not_ be. However as soon as I'd done it I felt like an idiot, she was definitely not one of those girls that cared just about how a guy looked. Besides, it was late October and freezing already, so she would think I was arrogant_ and_ crazy. Good one Quil.

She hopped out of the car and grabbed her bag from the front seat when she saw me. I heard her heart quicken ever so slightly. Ahah. Not above a bit of chest action then are we Claire? Cringing internally I raised my hand and waved at her, clenching my biceps so she'd notice. She gave me a small wave and a confused look back before heading towards me. I held out my arms for a hug, she again gave me a quizzical look and gave me a fleeting squeeze before heading inside.

I followed after her just as Brady and Oscar emerged from the woods. They looked at my bare chest quizzically then noticed Claire's car and laughed. Out of everyone I was probably the most shy. I was happy enough wandering around completely naked in front of the guys, it wasn't something we could really avoid. I was often topless in front of the other imprints too but only on the rez. The single wolves loved strutting around Forks and Seattle, knowing that most of the female population and probably some of the male, would be staring at them. I was far less comfortable. I didn't really care who looked at me if it wasn't Claire.

As we walked in we saw Claire and Emily sat at the kitchen table looking through leaflets that had been deposited into a large pile. I pulled one from the top of the pile and flicked through it. Upon noticing words such as 'lactating' and 'perineal exercises' I promptly put it down again. Emily laughed and said 'Claire's come to give me some advice on getting back into shape.'

I made a face and looked at the clock. 'Got to go,' I said looking at Claire, 'will you be here later?'

She nodded at me then turned back to Emily as I sauntered out of the room.

CPOV

'What?' I asked Emily who was positively smirking at me across the table.

She smiled at me, 'nothing.' Then proceeded to smile at me slyly every chance she got. I shook my head, there was something about everyone here. Like they all shared some kind of in-joke that the rest of us weren't allowed to know.

The next couple of weeks passed by in a blur. I was amazed that i'd been in America for five months, the time sped past. I had grown closer and closer to Emily and all her friends, the whole group welcomed me in as if I belonged there. Quil was a particular strength for me. He seemed to be around more and more and it became evident that something was happening between us. He was one of the closest friends I had in La Push. Most weekends I spent hanging out at Emily's, around the reservation, on the beach, just spending time with everyone, getting to know them. Quil was a constant throughout this period. Without realising it, I noticed that almost everywhere I went, no matter what I did, he was around in some way. Whether he was driving me to and from Seattle, laughing at Emily trying to teach me to bake or simply watching me study on the porch swing that I loved so much.

It was here that he asked me softly 'Why do you like being here so much?'

I looked up at him from my laptop and said, 'I can't say exactly. I feel comfortable here I guess. The nature too, it's amazing around here. I've never wanted to be outside as much as I have since moving here.'

He smiled at me and looked out over the lawn which stretched out into the forest on all sides. 'some people don't like being surrounded by the trees,' he began, 'they say that they're hiding the infamously wild La Push wolf pack.'

I laughed, 'I'm not sure how 'wild' the wolves around here are, I've heard all the howls, they're so close to the house yet they never come too near. They seem domesticated if you ask me.'

He looked offended. 'Domesticated!' he exclaimed, 'They are certainly not domesticated. The wolves are fierce hunters, dangerous and wild. Domesticated wolves...' he muttered.

I laughed again, 'Well wild or not, they don't bother me. I like being out here.'

He gave me one of his looks that I had been noticing more and more. Like he was seeing me for the first time and he couldn't quite decide what he thought of me. It was a cross between wonder and surprise and without fail it made me blush to the roots of my hair.

Quil smirked when he saw my blush start to creep up my face and leant forward to sweep a hair away from my eyes. My heart pounding I broke my gaze away and fixed it on my laptop, shivering. Although it was great out in the fresh air, the cold winds whipped around the side of the house, hitting me square on. As I gathered my jumper closer around me Quil scooted down the swing and wrapped one of his large (naked) arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. Once again I was shocked by his body temperature, my body moulded into his side and I could feel my pulse quicken. It was so still I could hear his breath on my cheek as my eyes drifted towards his. Suddenly the door slammed open and Rachel came storming out the house followed by an equally infuriated Paul. I jumped about a foot in the air away from Quil and proceeded to pick up my things to give the warring couple some time.

'Claire!' Rachel yelled on seeing me, 'Help me out here. Why do _they,_' she said, gesturing disdainfully in the direction of Paul and Quil, 'think that they can control every single aspect of our lives? We get to have our own dreams don't we? We need time by ourselves without these humungous, space-taking _oafs _following us around every single second of the day!' she stood square on to Paul who just raised an eyebrow in her direction and said simply 'are you done?'

Rachel let out a strangled sort of scream and hissed, 'No Paul, I am not _done._ I have several very important home truths to tell you and...' but she couldn't finish because Paul took two short strides over to her and lifted her off the ground, pressing his lips into hers and stopping the torrent of abuse that was flying out. Quil chuckled behind me and motioned for me to follow him into the house. I did willingly, not wanting to see anything too private, though Paul and Rachel were anything but.

QPOV

Thank you Paul, for ruining one of the best moments Claire and I have had together since she arrived here five months, two weeks and 3 days ago. The atmosphere between us was tangible and I knew she felt it too. Over the last weeks I had spent as much time as I could with her, just next to her, getting her used to my presence. Of course it didn't hurt that I often 'forgot' that she was coming over and so wandered around in just my shorts or that I took some sick pleasure in her feeling cold so that I could conveniently warm her with my touch. I had taken the advice of the other pack members who had imprinted to try not to overcrowd her too much. Rachel was living proof of the effect of that. I wanted desperately to follow her everywhere and protect her from every little thing, but Emily said that if her feelings towards me were starting to develop then the last thing I should do would be to 'big-brother her.' I agreed, that could all come later. For now I just wanted her to want me around in some way.

All I wanted was to be able to be myself around her and really let go. I wanted to act like Paul did and grab her and kiss her senseless. I wanted to touch her every second of the day. I wanted to be able to have her comfort me after a long patrol, or come home and joke about with everyone, with her completely in the know. I wanted to know that she would be there for me when I got home and I wanted her to know that I would love her and protect her for the rest of her life. But most of all I wanted her to accept me. All of me.

**Please review! I promise the next chapter will be up soon. I'm having some trouble finally getting them together but It will happen! In answer to some questions, Claire doesn't remember La Push because she left when she was so young. I haven't quite decided how or when she'll start to remember but I am working on it!**


End file.
